Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/30/16

FINALS UPDATE: iHeartRadio Music Festival (R) (0.3) adjusted up.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/29/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Indoors (R) (1.1) and Legends of Tomorrow (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

The Top 10 TV Ratings Moments of 2016

It's time for my seventh annual look back at the year's top 10 moments in TV ratings! As always, the criteria are pretty subjective, but I go for a blend of 1) relatively isolated incidents that are impressive for their sheer enormity/cultural impact and 2) moments that exemplify much larger trends in TV this year. Please let me know about my most egregious rankings/omissions. Happy New Year!

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/28/16

The Ultimate SpotVault, 30 Rock

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/27/16

The Ultimate SpotVault, Two and a Half Men

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/26/16

FINALS UPDATE: Scorpion (R) (0.6) adjusted up while Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (0.9) and Rudolph's Shiny New Year (0.7) and The Great American Baking Show (R) (0.5) and Kevin Can Wait (R) (0.6) adjusted down.

Please note that ABC is pending preemptions in the Monday Night Football local markets.

The Ultimate SpotVault, The Office

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/25/16

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (6.4) adjusted up while Movie: Beauty and the Beast (1.1) and Football Night in America (3.0) adjusted down.

The Ultimate SpotVault, How I Met Your Mother

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/23/16

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/22/16

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (5.1) adjusted up while The Great Indoors (R) (0.8) adjusted down.

The Ultimate SpotVault, 24

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/21/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (R) (0.9) and American Housewife (R) (0.8) and Elf: Buddys Musical Christmas (0.7) and Law and Order: SVU (R) (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a yet another late-December premiere for Undercover Boss (1.1/1.0), but it went well behind last year's 1.6 opener (which had a lot more help from an NFL overrun on Sunday). The Boss will occupy the 8:00 hour until the premiere of Hunted in late January. It led into Code Black (0.9), getting through another original episode at 10/9c.

• Everyone else had a mix of repeats and specials, with ABC's Robin Roberts special (0.6) finishing last among all big four programs.

The Ultimate SpotVault, House

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/20/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's annual 'The Year' special (1.1) topped Tuesday and was up a tenth year-to-year. The CW began its short-order holiday series Terry Crews Save Christmas (0.3), while Scream Queens (0.5) went out with a whimper on Fox.

The Ultimate SpotVault, Desperate Housewives

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/19/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and The Great American Baking Show (R) (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC was on top of Monday with a two-hour America's Got Talent Christmas special (1.8) leading into a solid preview for Tuesday Voice filler The Wall (1.6) at 10/9c. Wall skewed noticeably younger than Talent, retaining barely two-thirds of its total viewership but close to 90% in the demo.

• CBS' one-hour Michelle Obama/Oprah Winfrey special skewed quite old, with over 9 million total viewers but just a 1.3 demo rating. That made it little help to a special 9/8c edition of Man with a Plan (1.1). 2 Broke Girls (1.2) also moved back a half hour, to 9:30 (which it will be inheriting permanently in 2017), while Scorpion (1.2) inched up at 10/9c.

• We'll see about Monday Night Football preemptions again, but ABC had another two hours of The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.2) leading into a repeat of The Great American Baking Show (0.9).

• Fox went with more drama repeats (0.4/0.4), while CW's Supergirl repeat (0.4) led into low-rated special 'The Marie Claire Young Women's Honors' (0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/18/16

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (8.1) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (2.3) and Elementary (0.7) and Football Night in America (3.4) and Breakthrough Prize (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With a national NFL overrun, CBS was the only network in the original series game with 60 Minutes (2.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4), Madam Secretary (1.1) and Elementary (0.9). These numbers are uncertain in prelims since the shows started at 40 minutes after the hour on the East Coast (or about 10 minutes after their listed times).

• NBC easily dominated the night with another dose of Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football; the game's 7.0ish prelim was a top-five rating for the franchise this season.

• ABC had its annual four-hour The Sound of Music telecast (0.8/1.2/1.3/1.2), which will be up year-to-year (vs. last year's 1.0). And Fox had the awards show 'Breakthrough Prize' (0.7) leading into comedy repeats (0.7/0.6/0.7/0.4). Prize would be up vs. last year's 0.4, but may be impacted in finals thanks to local NFL overruns.

The Ultimate SpotVault, Lost

The Ultimate SpotVault is a fully sortable record of every single episode in the history of a veteran series. This allows you to compare both raw numbers (total viewership and adults 18-49 rating) as well as the historical-adjusted stat A18-49+ for episodes across different seasons. This table also has the lead-in's A18-49+ for each episode, so you can see which episodes had the most and least support.

A18-49+ Season Comparison Interactive Chart

This is an interactive chart allowing you to compare seasonal A18-49+ ratings (through 2015-16) for up to three different shows. For now, it only includes the 130 big four scripted shows with at least a 200 Career A18-49+, the same shows included on the Career A18-49+ Sortable Table.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/16/16

FINALS UPDATE: Caught on Camera (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A mostly up week for ABC's comedy fall finales continued as Last Man Standing (1.2) and Dr. Ken (0.9) headed into the holidays on an up note. It was also a nice night for 20/20 (1.0), which grew out of a repeat Shark Tank (0.8).

• CBS was also mostly-but-not-entirely original, with Blue Bloods in repeat mode (0.9) while MacGyver (1.0) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) were original.

• NBC got a surprising Friday Christmas gift as Caught on Camera (0.9) was way above average, leading into Dateline (1.0).

• Fox finished out the season/series of The Exorcist with a fifth consecutive 0.6, leading out of yet another 1.0 for Hell's Kitchen. 

• And the CDub stayed in holiday special mode with the Hollywood Christmas Parade (0.3), matching last year.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/15/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.4) and Thursday Night Football (4.3) adjusted up while The Great Indoors (1.6) and Thursday Night Football Pregame (2.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS got a bit of a jolt from an eventful The Big Bang Theory (3.3), which grew by a couple tenths to close out 2016. That helped The Great Indoors (1.7) and Mom (1.5), which were both above average, but was less felt later on with Life in Pieces (even at 1.3) and Pure Genius (down to 0.9).

• ABC dug into its holiday special vault again for the duo of half-hour Prep & Landing specials (0.8/0.8), lost another notch at 9/8c with The Great American Baking Show (0.8), and then had a special holiday-themed edition of summer series What Would You Do? (0.7).

• After a couple big weeks of Thursday Night Football, the Seahawks and Rams brought the franchise back down to a 2.7 preliminary rating, tying a season low. This should adjust up into the 4's after finals/NFL Network are included.

• The CW went with the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball (0.4), typically one of its stronger holiday offerings, while repeat season arrived on Fox with Hell's Kitchen (0.6) and Rosewood (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/14/16

FINALS UPDATE: Survivor (1.9) and Survivor reunion (1.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox previewed its new Lee Daniels drama Star (2.2) in the 9/8c hour, opening with the same solid rating that fellow Wednesday drama newbies Lethal Weapon and Designated Survivor had during premiere week. It surely got some help from its compatible Empire lead-in (2.7), though the fall finale was only able to make a small rebound from last week's low at a special 8/7c time.

• It was the last original night of the fall for ABC Wednesday, and 9/8c anchor Modern Family (2.0) fell to a new low. But most of the other shows were back to relatively normal after some brutal lows last week: The Goldbergs (1.7), Speechless (1.6) and Black-ish (1.6) were all up by multiple tenths, while Designated Survivor (1.2) inched up as it heads into a nearly three-month hiatus.

• CBS had another healthy Survivor finale night, with a 2.0 for the first two hours (down just two tenths year-to-year) and a preliminary 1.4 for the 10/9c reunion.

• NBC has had so many other Wednesday events that it didn't need to bust out the Saturday Night Live Christmas special until mid-December, but it was still potent at a 1.6/1.5 rating, up a bit from last year. It led out of a solid Pentatonix Christmas special (1.4) in the 8:00 hour.

• And the CW went with a Christmas movies countdown (0.3) and a repeat of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (0.3).

SpotVault - Star (Fox) - Winter 2016-17 Ratings

Star

Wednesdays, 9/8c, Fox

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/13/16

FINALS UPDATE: Jimmy Kimmel Live (R) (0.4) and NCIS (1.7) and The Flash (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC had a nice bounce for the two-hour season finale of The Voice (2.4/2.5), which actually had one of the franchise's best trends in a mostly down second half of the season. It was pretty close to even in Plus with last fall's 2.9 finale (though that was a fairly underwhelming result in relation to other episodes late last fall). It led out of a recap special at 8/7c (1.7), which was quite healthy vs. last year's 1.8.

• The Voice was still down week-to-week in both of the first two hours (including vs. This Is Us at 9:00), and that may have helped ABC's comedies head into the holidays on an up note. The Middle (1.6) led off with a two-tenth uptick, and the rest (American Housewife (1.5), Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) and The Real O'Neals (0.9)) were up one tenth apiece. But the network went behind even its recent Agents of SHIELD numbers with a Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat at 10/9c (0.5).

• The other networks showed no such benefit; on CBS, NCIS (1.8) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.2) were even and sandwiched a slightly down Bull (1.4). Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.9) slipped back into fractional land, leading into steady New Girl (0.8) and Scream Queens (0.5). And the CW went with repeats of The Flash (0.3) and soon-bound-for-Tuesday Legends of Tomorrow (0.2).

Cablemetrics: The Walking Dead finale and more from Week 12

These numbers are current through Monday, December 12.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Just one quick note this week: The Walking Dead went up by just 3% for its midseason finale, closing the half-season on a 5.09 demo. It had a similarly small bump last fall, but this still narrowly went down as a new worst-ever y2y trend for the show at -27%.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/12/16

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and The Great American Baking Show (R) (0.6) and Timeless (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a fairly soft night for the CBS Monday comedy lineup, with anchors Kevin Can Wait (1.4) and 2 Broke Girls (1.2) inching down in the prelims. Man with a Plan (1.2) was even and The Odd Couple (1.0) slightly up at the bottoms of the hours. And Scorpion (1.1) inched down to round out the night. Kevin and The Odd Couple are done for 2016 now, but the others will return to lead out of a Michelle Obama special next Monday.

• NBC began The Voice's finale week with a bit of an uptick to 2.2. It was another very sharp year-to-year decline vs. the excellent year-ago season, as last fall had a 3.2 for the Monday finale (which was also paired with a huge Adele special). Timeless closed the year with another 1.2, and we will next see it leading out of Celebrity Apprentice in January.

• ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.3/1.2) and repeat of The Great American Baking Show (0.8) appear to be pending Monday Night Football preemptions?

• The holidays have already begun on the CW with specials Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (0.3) and Greatest Holiday Commercials (0.2), as well as on Fox with repeats of Gotham (0.5) and Lucifer (0.5).

Renewology Swings of the Week: The Great Indoors, Code Black, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

It's time for another edition of Renewology Swings of the Week. Which shows had the best and worst weeks in terms of Renewology odds? These numbers cover Week 12 of the 2016-17 season (December 5-11).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/11/16

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (8.7) and The OT (3.9) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (1.2) and Football Night in America (3.1) and NFL Overrun (5.4) and The Simpsons (2.3) and Son of Zorn (1.2) and The Last Man on Earth (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's dramas are done for 2016, but the network's Sunday ratings situation improved immensely with a telecast of animated movie Frozen (1.7) and a making-of special (0.9) in the 10/9c hour.

• CBS' special programming produced far less impressive results, as a pair of colorized episodes from The Dick Van Dyke Show (0.7) skewed incredibly old (with over 7 million total viewers). We also got a look at the value of NCIS: Los Angeles to the whole night, as the Dick Van Dyke reruns seemingly tanked Madam Secretary (0.7) and Elementary (0.6) later in the night.

• With a second straight national NFL overrun, Fox's The Simpsons (2.4) and Son of Zorn (1.3) were even in the 8:00 hour, but the 9:00 shows Family Guy (1.4) and The Last Man on Earth (1.0) were down. In terms of male-skewing competition, they went up against The Walking Dead's midseason finale plus...

• ...an extremely strong Sunday Night Football game, charged up by another Dallas Cowboys appearance. The high-7 prelim rating was actually SNF's biggest Sunday prelim of the season, which is a pretty impressive feat this late in the season, and it should adjust up well into the 8's after finals.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/9/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• The return of the CBS dramas put the eye back on top on Friday, despite small declines for MacGyver (1.0) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.2). Blue Bloods was steady at 1.2 in the 10/9c hour.

• On ABC, it was yet another 1.1 leading off from the durable Last Man Standing, but the rest of the night struggled as Dr. Ken (0.8) stayed on the low end, while Shark Tank (1.0) had a really weak night and 20/20 (0.8) fell back to its usual self.

• Fox's Hell's Kitchen (1.0) and The Exorcist (0.6) both came back after two weeks off, and both were even.

• The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was back to a preliminary 0.2 (after hitting a prelim 0.3 last week and later adjusting down). It led out of 0.4 from The Vampire Diaries.

• And NBC had Caught on Camera (0.6) and Dateline (1.1), each down a tenth.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/8/16

FINALS UPDATE: Life in Pieces (1.3) and Thursday Night Football (5.6) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (2.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Opposite a much weaker Thursday Night Football, the CBS lineup had some upticks, even with The Big Bang Theory (1.7) in repeats. It looks like The Great Indoors (1.5) is going to be yet another one of those shows that looks a lot better after Big Bang repeats than it does after originals, but actually going up by 0.2 from last week seems rather crazy. Mom (1.4) had a small uptick at 9/8c, while Life in Pieces (1.2) was even continued to look a little softer in the late fall. And Pure Genius (1.0) finished out a shockingly decent week for the CBS medical dramas by growing back to its series premiere rating.

• ABC reran holiday specials Toy Story that Time Forgot (0.8) and Shrek the Halls (0.9), each down just a tenth from their Thursday telecasts a year ago. The Great American Baking Show (0.9) was then down a tenth at 9/8c, and ABC tacked on the probable series finale of Notorious (0.5) to absolutely no interest at 10/9c.

• Fox had its second annual Taraji P. Henson holiday special (0.9) in the 8:00 hour. This was way down from last year's 1.5, but Empire was a much hotter show back then, plus the special was actually run in Empire's regular timeslot in 2015. After a slightly improved lead-in, Pitch (0.8) got a much-welcome uptick for its season/series finale.

• The CW rounded out its post-crossover week with Legends of Tomorrow (0.7), which was slightly above its usual 0.6 level. Supernatural (0.6) was even.

• As for Thursday Night Football, the strong matchup between Kansas City and Oakland had a high-3's prelim. That was way down from last week's high 4, but still one of TNF's better broadcast-only prelims of the season. It should adjust into the 5's after finals/NFL Network are included.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/7/16

FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (R) (1.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC's annual live musical event moved to Wednesday for the first time due to the Thursday Night Football conflict. Hairspray Live! averaged a 2.3ish prelim (2.5/2.3/2.0 by hour), which was very close to Peter Pan Live! from two years ago (2.4) but a big step down from the more successful entries in the tradition: last year's The Wiz Live! (3.4) and the one that started it all, The Sound of Music Live! in 2013 (4.6).

• Though Hairspray didn't seem that huge, it was still a night of major carnage elsewhere. ABC's The Goldbergs (1.5) and Speechless (1.3) each stepped down by two more tenths from already soft results last week, and Black-ish (1.2) got absolutely crushed with the added difficulty of a repeat Modern Family (1.1) lead-in. And Designated Survivor (1.1) rounded out the night with a new low at 10/9c.

• Fox also had new lows by multiple tenths with Lethal Weapon (1.4) and Empire (2.5).

• CBS was on the downswing with Survivor (1.7) and Criminal Minds (1.3), though Code Black (1.1) was the winner of the night at least on a week-to-week basis by actually upticking.

• And on the CW, Arrow (0.7) went all the way back to normal after its crossover spike last week, while Frequency dipped to its first ever 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/6/16

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS (1.8) adjusted up while Agents of SHIELD (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On one of the last remaining days of 2016 with five networks airing all regular lineups, NBC's This Is Us (2.8) was the runaway standout once again, upticking to tie its series high. Its surrounding programs The Voice (1.9) and Chicago Fire (1.7) were both even.

• It was a rough evening for the ABC comedy lineup, as The Middle (1.4), American Housewife (1.4), Fresh Off the Boat (1.1) and The Real O'Neals (0.8) were all down, and most of them by two tenths. Agents of SHIELD clung to another 0.8 at 10/9c.

• On CBS, NCIS (1.7) gave back its uptick from the last episode, falling back to a low-end rating, but Bull (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.2) had typical results.

• Monday's Supergirl repeats meant this was the first chance to see a CW original the week after the enormous DC crossover. And there was a nice audience left behind for The Flash (1.2), which was still ahead of most of its results from earlier in the fall. No Tomorrow had 0.3 again at 9/8c.

• And Fox was steady (if still in CW territory) with Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.0), New Girl (0.8) and Scream Queens (0.5).

Cablemetrics: Westworld, The Walking Dead, Shameless, The Royals

These numbers are current through Monday, December 5.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a big penultimate week spike, Westworld followed it up on finale night by only staying flat week-to-week at a 1.02 demo. (However, it did set new highs in both total viewers and the 18-34 demos.) It still goes down as one of the cable elite, but a long wait for season two begins.

SpotVault - The Great Christmas Light Fight (ABC) - 2016 Ratings

The Great Christmas Light Fight

Mondays, 8/7c, ABC

SpotVault - The Great American Baking Show (ABC) - 2016 Ratings

The Great American Baking Show

Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC

SpotVault - The Royals (E!) - Winter 2016-17 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/5/16

FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) and The Voice (2.1) adjusted up while The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1) and Conviction (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC brought back holiday staple The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.3/1.2) leading into Conviction (0.8) at 10/9c. This would be about the same raw number as last year's Light Fight premiere (1.2) but the network is pending Monday Night Football preemptions.

• CBS had another solid night from Kevin Can Wait (1.5), but new lows from Man with a Plan (1.2) and 2 Broke Girls (1.2). The network got a big upgrade from a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.4) at 9:30, leading into The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (2.1) in the 10/9c hour. After a massive drop last year, the fashion show shed another couple tenths this time.

• NBC had a fairly typical night with The Voice (2.1/2.0) and Timeless (1.2), while Fox basically matched its usual drama numbers with two-hour special Showtime at the Apollo (1.1). The CW had repeats of Supergirl (0.4/0.3).

Renewology Swings of the Week: The Real O'Neals, Gotham, Once Upon a Time, Pitch

It's time for another edition of Renewology Swings of the Week. Which shows had the best and worst weeks in terms of Renewology odds? These numbers cover Week 11 of the 2016-17 season (November 28-December 4).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/4/16

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) and Sunday Night Football (6.1) and The OT (4.2) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (1.4) and Bull (R) (0.8) and MacGyver (R) (0.6) and Football Night in America (2.6) and NFL Overrun (5.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A regrettable fall for drama programming came to an end on ABC Sunday with the fall finale of Once Upon a Time (0.9) and the two-hour season or series finale of Secrets and Lies (0.7), as Once limped to the finish with its third fractional result in the last five episodes.

• Fox had a national NFL lead-in, and 8:00 comedies The Simpsons (2.4) and Son of Zorn (1.3) did worse than their previous post-overrun numbers this season. However, it didn't stop Family Guy (1.6) and The Last Man on Earth (1.1) from having rather high-end results in the 9:00 hour, despite facing HBO's Westworld finale.

• CBS didn't have a national overrun and went with repeats of Bull (0.9), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8) and MacGyver (0.7).

• NBC's Sunday Night Football had a very low-5 prelim, its second-lowest of the season, but it may get a bit more finals help with a West Coast team playing in the game.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/2/16

FINALS UPDATE: 20/20 (1.2) adjusted up while Dr. Ken (0.8) and I Love Lucy Christmas Special (0.8) and Pac-12 Championship Pregame (0.6) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC was the only big four network with original scripted programming on Friday, as comedies Last Man Standing (1.1) and Dr. Ken (0.9) returned at pretty normal levels. ABC rounded out the night with an average Shark Tank (1.2) and a well-above average night from 20/20 (1.1).

• Fox took a rare Friday victory thanks to the Pac-12 Championship Game (1.6/1.7), with a preliminary 1.1 for the pre-game show in the 8:00 hour. The game had a 1.9 when it was last on Fox Friday two years ago.

• At least in the prelims, the CW had an above-average Friday with The Vampire Diaries (0.4) on the uptick and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend hoping to hang onto its first 0.3 of the season.

• CBS had its annual hour of colorized I Love Lucy episodes (0.9), down two tenths from last year's special on December 23, leading into repeats of the veteran crime dramas (0.6/0.7).

• And NBC had high-end results for Caught on Camera (0.7) and Dateline (1.1/1.2).

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/1/16

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (6.8) and Legends of Tomorrow (1.2) adjusted up while The Great American Baking Show (1.0) and The Great Indoors (1.3) and Thursday Night Football Pregame (2.7) and Supernatural (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC began its Thursday dramas' hiatus with the return of The Great American Baking Show (1.1/1.0), which was called The Great Holiday Baking Show in its late fall run last year. It was down a bit from last year's 1.2 premiere. It led out of A Charlie Brown Christmas (1.5), which had a rather soft first showing of the year (down big from last year's 2.0 on a Monday).

• NBC took its second crack at Thursday Night Football to hugely improved results, with the ratings magnet Dallas Cowboys vaulting the game to an upper-4's prelim. After finals and the NFL Network simulcast are included, this will likely be the season's biggest TNF game, and maybe even pretty close to last week's Thanksgiving primetime game.

• That may have contributed to a rather soft comedy night on CBS. The Big Bang Theory (3.1) and The Great Indoors (1.4) both matched two weeks ago, but Mom (1.3) and Life in Pieces (1.2) were both weaker. Pure Genius rounded it out with a 0.8, unable to bounce back from its Thanksgiving rating.

• The CW wrapped up the four-night crossover with Legends of Tomorrow (1.1). It fell from the last couple nights but nearly doubled its usual rating and (like The Flash and Arrow) set a new series high in A18-49+. Supernatural (0.7) was pretty normal at 9/8c.

• And after getting hugely inflated ratings for Thanksgiving repeats, Rosewood (0.7) and Pitch (0.7) were back to their normal original numbers this week. It was the last 2016 episode for Rosewood, which will move to Friday after the new year.

Cablemetrics: Vikings, Westworld, Shooter, Incorporated

These numbers are current through Wednesday, November 30.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Wednesday saw the return of History's resilient Vikings with a 0.71 demo rating. It's technically the second half of season four, but the year-to-year comparisons will be against the first half of season four since it was almost a full year ago (premiering on February 18). By that measure, it's down a relatively decent 13%.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/30/16

FINALS UPDATE: Empire (2.9) adjusted up while Black-ish (1.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Finished with its Wednesday original series for 2016, NBC went with annual special Christmas in Rockefeller Center (1.7) and the two-hour movie Christmas of Many Colors (1.8/1.7), a second installment after last year's Dolly Parton movie Coat of Many Colors. The movie was basically even with last year, which averaged a 1.8 on a Thursday, while Rockefeller got a nice bump from last year's 1.5.

• These holiday specials are usually bad news for the ABC Wednesday lineup, and it was clear at least in the 8:00 hour as The Goldbergs (1.7) and Speechless (1.5) each took a hit. But the network held up much better in the hours against the Parton movie; Modern Family (2.2) was even, while Black-ish (1.8) actually had a really good night, and Designated Survivor (1.3) inched up as well.

• The four-superhero show crossover continued to do absolute wonders for the CW, as night three saw Arrow (1.3) basically double its usual delivery this season. Like The Flash on Tuesday, this will go down as Arrow's biggest episode ever in A18-49+, and was within a tenth of the raw series high. But those super-charged lead-ins have been wasted on the network's flop newbies; Frequency was stuck at 0.3 again.

• On Fox, Lethal Weapon (1.6) and Empire (2.8) were back from yet another Wednesday interruption at preliminary new lows; however, both did a tenth better at the bottom of the hour and could be close to adjusting up.

• And CBS had Survivor (1.9), Criminal Minds (1.4) and Code Black (1.0), which were similar or slightly better than the lineup's last full-strength outing two weeks ago.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/29/16

FINALS UPDATE: American Housewife (1.5) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.3) adjusted up while No Tomorrow (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On another night without CBS originals, the NBC dramas took major advantage. The massive This Is Us (2.7) popped to within a tenth of its series high, and up three tenths from last Tuesday. And Chicago Fire (1.7) found some heat of its own in the 10/9c hour, up by two tenths. (Not surprisingly, they bounced even more in total viewers, where both shows appear headed for new season highs.) Even slumping The Voice (1.9) had a minor uptick, but remains an eyesore on a year-to-year basis.

• On ABC, it was another sorta mediocre night for American Housewife (1.4), as it will once again need a finals uptick to dodge a new low. The Middle led off with another 1.6, while 9/8c comedies Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) and The Real O'Neals (1.0) were both back from a week off and inched down. After over a month off, ABC's Agents of SHIELD returned to the 10/9c hour with its usual 0.8.

• The CW had another night of crossover glory, as The Flash (1.5) exploded to a new season high. This will likely go down as Flash's biggest historical-adjusted episode ever, which is quite a highlight in a season that has largely underwhelmed. Flash even managed to (preliminarily) drag No Tomorrow (0.4) up by a tenth at 9:00.

• CBS was in repeats but far from forgotten, as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (2.3) had its annual potent outing in the 8:00 hour. After a somewhat large drop last year, this year Rudolph was within a tenth of steady. It helped boost repeats of NCIS (1.3) and Bull (0.9) later in the night.

• And Fox had little recovery from its rotten outing last Tuesday; only Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.0) picked up a tenth, while New Girl (0.8) and Scream Queens (0.5) were stuck at last week's lows.